World champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has been drawn against world No. 117 Mohamed Ibrahim of Egypt in the first round of the inaugural WST Classic on Friday, March 17 in Leicester.
The world No. 1 needs to claim the £80,000 first prize at the Morningside Arena to keep alive any hope of overtaking Mark Selby for the eighth and final place in the Tour Championship (March 27-April 2) in Hull.
Ad As it stands, the Classic is likely to be O'Sullivan's final appearance at a ranking event before he defends the world title in Sheffield next month (April 15-May 1).
SnookerVictorious Xiao joins snooker big guns in Championship League final groupYESTERDAY AT 22:14 Mark Williams and Neil Robertson also need the Classic title otherwise they will also have the week off with Robertson set to be denied the chance to chase a third straight Tour title.